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Music lessons from home
No master has fallen from heaven yet!
… Who does not know her? The countless sayings, myths and jibes on the theme of “practice makes perfect”. A very popular saying in this genre, which countless of you have probably heard, is: “If you practice, you stab your fellow musicians in the back!” Of course, it’s actually the other way around.
Because only those who stay on the ball and maintain their skills through methodically repeated actions, improve them or, as a beginner, acquire them for the first time, will ultimately be able to master their instrument and play it with joy.
So cheers to everyone who can already play their instrument better than you. Because you can only learn something from ambitious musicians who already have more to offer than you. Your own bandmates can take on this role, but of course trained or freelance musicians and music teachers can also take on this role. Normally you meet your music teacher for a practice session in the rehearsal room, in the music school (e.g. the band workshop in our courtyard) or even in your own four walls. But what should you do if something gets in the way of the personal meeting but the practice session still needs to take place?
With our guides “Music lessons from home” , we would like to show you today how you can use the Internet without direct contact with your music teacher and other musicians via modern streaming variants and chat programs in order to still hold your lesson and what practical equipment supports you in an inexpensive way. Due to your numerous inquiries and submissions on the theme of “online music lessons”, our two Ollis sat down and chatted about their own experiences. Click in and enjoy our video tutorial.
Before the first online lesson
As a music teacher, you should be prepared before your first lesson from home. In this case, nothing would be worse than a bad sound or overall impression received by the other person on the other side . Please note that the beginner may not yet be able to differentiate what the tone or the technique to be taught should ideally sound or look like. Basically, all you need is a working laptop, tablet or smartphone and a reasonably stable internet connection. Of course, you could also simply hold your guitar in front of the lens of your smartphone, but with this rudimentary solution the audio quality would noticeably be compromised.
In the first step, as a music teacher you should look at what signals and image details the other person needs to receive in order to get the best possible result from the exercise. Make sure that your guitar sound and the sound of your voice reach your student in the best possible way. In order to be able to see any fingering techniques or other settings on the guitar, your instrument should be the focus of the webcam. Please also ensure there is sufficient lighting. Your students won't benefit if they have to guess the guitar fingerings :)
Compact interfaces: The interfaces between man and machine!
We recommend mixing the audio signals to be transmitted as best as possible before forwarding them to the computer, tablet or smartphone. As with a classic recording situation, mixing consoles are best suited for this purpose. As you can certainly imagine, mixing consoles and interfaces are a dime a dozen these days and come with different features. For the sake of simplicity, today we would only like to recommend compact and practical variants in the lower to medium price segment.
The interfaces in this guides are about being able to mix the volume of several audio signals separately from each other and transfer the result as a sum to the computer, tablet or smartphone so that your counterpart - the student - receives a clearly differentiated audio signal can get the best overall impression of the online lesson. All of the interfaces listed allow you to mix at least two signals and send them easily to the computer.
Microphone check: one, two – one, two
When it comes to microphones, the selection is – surprise surprise – similar to that of mixing consoles or interfaces. We have practical USB and smartphone microphones and adapter in our range to make it easy to get both your voice and your acoustic guitar into your computer, tablet or smartphone.
However, we also recommend using the interface solution and choosing a microphone with an XLR or jack plug . These can usually be easily connected to the interfaces mentioned above and mixed accordingly in volume and without additional software . We have put together a selection of microphones that are within the frame in terms of quality and price for you here.
Thank you for studio headphones! The perfect listening experience on your ears!
In order to optimally and clearly perceive your own sound, but also that of your students, we would like to recommend a few inexpensive studio headphones. Studio headphones are designed to produce the purest possible sound . Professionals use these headphones to examine the mix of their recording session for errors in the sound and to blend the different tracks and frequencies homogeneously together. Of course, simple HiFi or smartphone headphones will also do the trick at the beginning, but if you're in the process of adjusting your setup, we would like to recommend these models for an optimal listening situation.
A little more than you need for online lessons, but perfectly coordinated!
One, two, three – attention recording! With these practical complete sets, entry into the world of online music lessons and your first recording sessions is just a click away. These recording bundles combine an audio interface with multiple inputs and outputs, a solid studio microphone including headphones for listening, and simple recording software in one. Depending on the equipment , additional accessories are also available. With these complete recording sets you are well equipped to record demo songs and so-called play-alongs for your students, beyond the online lesson . So why not kill two birds with one stone and take your setup to the next level .
Are you ready for your first online music lesson?
If you have any further questions about the topic, please do not hesitate to contact our specialist departments in Walldorf and Frankfurt or post your questions under our tutorial video. In our guides to podcasts, gaming and video production you will certainly find one or two useful pieces of advice for your online music lessons.
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